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Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Homemade Spanish Red Beans

Happy Wednesday!

Growing up, my mom taught my sisters and me how to cook Spanish food. Spanish food is very much apart of our culture and my mom just felt it was important for us girls to learn how to cook Spanish food the right way. Spanish food is full of savory flavors, but it's never spicy. My sisters and I have our own style of cooking, but one things remains true we can cook up a scrumptious Spanish meal every time! By the time I was 12 years old I was cooking and I never really appreciated cooking then like I do now. Now that I have my own family, dinner time around the table with my husband and children is very important to me. Not only are we eating home cooked meals together but it's our time to catch up on the day, share some laughs and enjoy each others company. I dedicated this post to my mom, who taught me the importances of cooking and bringing family together.

Recipe for Spanish Red Beans:

1lb of red or pink beans
Salt to you're liking
1 tablespoon of Black pepper
1 tablespoon of garlic power
2 Bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon of dry oregano
1 can of tomato sauce (with no salt added) or you can also use 2 tablespoon of tomato paste
1/2 cup of pimento stuffed manzanilla olives
Small handful of cilantro leaves
Half of green, red or yellow pepper
3 cloves of garlic mince

*2 big spoonful of recaito by Goya, you can find this in the freezer section. If you are not able to find recaito by Goya, I will include at the end of this post how to make recaito. I do make my own recaito and freeze it in small containers and use it when I need it. I don't use this everyday and this is why I freeze it so it won't go bad. Today, I didn't have any homemade recaito and I was too lazy to make it. LOL!

This is the spoon I use to measure the recaito

This is some of the ingredients. Also, you see the Goya, recaito.

Place beans in a large heavy bottom pot. Add enough water to cover beans by 2 inches and two tablespoon of olive oil. Bring to a boil and boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and cover and let it stand for 1 hour. Drain and rinse beans. Return the beans to the pot and add enough water to cover beans by 8 inches and add salt to taste and 2 tablespoon of olive oil. When the beans begin to boil, cover pot and set on medium heat and cook till beans are tender (about 1 1/2 hour). Once beans are tender add from the black pepper down all the other ingredients to the beans. Once you have added all the ingredients to your beans let it simmer for 1 hours. Taste your beans to see if it has enough salt, if you need any more salt then you can add it at this time.Cook for about another 1/2 hours to 1 hour till you see the water of the beans (I like to call it the bean juice) is heavy, almost thick, but not watery. You don't want watery.

The red beans all done

Once the beans are done turn off and sever over and next to white or brown rice you can add roasted chicken, roast beef or any meat you like. This recipe is easier then it sounds. I promise! Give it a try and let me know how you like it.

Here is how you make Recaito: 3 medium spanish onions, 3 green peppers, one entire cloves of garlic, and small bunch of cilantro and 1/4 of olive oil (make sure it's a good quality) and water.
Take your blender and add the chopped up onions, peppers, smash up garlics, cilantro leaves, olive oil and start blending. If the mixture is a thick then add a 2 tablespoon of water till it smooth,but not watery. Consistency should be smooth not watery. Place recaito in container and place in your freezer. You can add a spoonful of this to soups,stews and beans. It's really adds a lot of flavor to your food.

As we say in our culture Buen Provecho! Happy Eating! Thank you for stopping by and I love to hear from you so please leave a comment.